Tag / M. J. Fredrick

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Sunrise Over Texas by M. J. Fredrick

Format: E-booksunriseovertexas
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Series: Standalone
Hero: George Trace Watson
Heroine: Katherine Barclay
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 6, 2010
Started On: August 2, 2011
Finished On: August 2, 2011

This week’s Tuesday started like any other day except for the fact that I had this sudden urge or should I say craving?, to read Sunrise Over Texas by MJ Fredrick. I don’t know how or why, and I am not even going to question the urge to do so because Sunrise Over Texas turned out to be wonderful in all the ways that counts.

Taking place in the Texas frontier in 1826, Sunrise Over Texas tells the story of the remarkable Katherine Barclay (Kit) who fights for survival every minute of the day as the only one left behind along with her mother-in-law Agnes and sister-in-law Mary at the garrison standing guard between the Karankawa tribe and Stephen Austin’s colony of San Felipe. With the food supply depleting with each meal, Kit struggles to keep things going, no mean feat when her in-laws have always lived in the lap of luxury and are not much of a help when it comes to practicalities. Mourning for the death of her husband followed by that of her young son Daniel, the last thing Kit wants is for a stranger to ride up to their “safe” haven and for her to take on the responsibility of nursing him back to health.

George Trace Watson left home to get away from the memories of his dead wife and his stillborn child. When he finds himself raging with fever and nursed back to health by Kit, the first thing he notices about her is her sheer determination to go on against all odds. Though Trace doesn’t want to get involved, much less be responsible for the safety of three women, the honorable man inside of him refuses to turn his back on them, especially when Kit herself stirs up longings that he thought he had buried with his wife.

Though guilt-ridden by the fact that he feels things for Kit he should not, even that doesn’t stop him from embracing the desire that unfurls between them right from the very start. Kit whose take-charge attitude in life also extends to the bedroom makes for very interesting and provocative scenes of passion with a much laid-back Trace who fits her quirks in the bedroom and out of it in every way.

Towards the end of the book, I had a knot the size of Texas in my throat from all the emotions that coursed through me as Kit faced one hurdle after the other and came out winning and stronger than ever only to nearly be turned away by the man who owns her heart because of the fear that rules over his emotions of ever being too vulnerable again.

For me, Kit is the best thing about this western romance. Although I loved Trace to bits, his gentle and giving nature making it hard not to, it is Kit whose inner strength that drew me like a moth to flame, because her character demands nothing less. Its not easy for an author to write a heroine who manages to outshine the hero when majority of readers like us swoon over the hero just because he merely breathes and I can’t help but send high praise MJ Fredrick’s way for being able to do just that without making me feel cheated out on any aspect of the story.

Its hard to believe that this is her first historical because the story flows smoothly and the characters just tug at your heartstrings, making Sunrise Over Texas a wonderful western romance to sink into.

Highly recommended for fans of the genre and fans of MJ Fredrick.

As soon as I post this, I am scurrying off to acquire every available e-book by MJ Fredrick because I find myself with no will left to resist the lure of her books at this moment.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Carina Press

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Something to Talk About by M.J. Fredrick

Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Lyrical Press, Incorporated
Series: Standalone
Hero: Noah Weston
Heroine: Ellie Morgan
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: June 20, 2011
Started On: July 16, 2011
Finished On: July 16, 2011

Something to Talk About is the novel that officiates M.J. Fredrick’s position in my favorite authors list, authors that are must-buy as their stories are so very worth it. There are no blazing guns, no hair raising adventure in this as in the two novels Don’t Look Back and Breaking Daylight by the author that I have read and reviewed prior to this. Rather, Something to Talk About is a contemporary romance that nevertheless packs into it a story that any romance lover ought to read because this is a novel that swept me away on a journey towards a happily ever after that I very much rooted for right from the very beginning.

Something to Talk about takes place in the small town of Winchester Cove, California where 30 year old Ellie Morgan has ended her latest relationship with the golden boy of the town and high school football coach Trey Berenger. Knowing that she wants much more from a relationship than Trey’s self-centered nature allows him to give, Ellie cuts off ties with the man whom she had been seeing for almost a year – a personal best for her where relationships are concerned. What Ellie didn’t expect to happen upon her breakup is for everyone in town to once again start talking around corners, whispering behind her back and painting her in the same light as that of her mother who had left a husband and three children behind 14 years ago and never looked back.

35 year old Noah Weston is just starting to recover from the blow that fate had dealt him when his wife had brutally being snatched away from his life, just when they were happily anticipating a new addition to their family. Almost a year and a half had passed by and Noah was starting to notice the vibrancy that has always been part of his wife Lily’s best friend Ellie who lights up his otherwise grey world with her mere presence. Wary of a desire that seems to grow stronger rather than abate as the days go by, Noah wills himself to take a chance amidst the fanfare of small town life that supports and berates his choice to move on with his wife’s best friend.

Ellie doesn’t recall just when and how her libido and emotions had started going on instant alert whenever Noah is around but Ellie knows that its a passion worth risking her heart for if the answering fire of need that simmers in Noah’s eyes is anything to go by. As their desire explodes and makes each of them embrace new heights in a physical relationship that neither of them was expecting, other emotions start getting involved lending their relationship a fragility that could break the bonds that bind them together so very easily.

With Noah battling his fear of starting over and trusting his heart to guide him in the right path and with Ellie fighting her need to become anything but the center stage of Winchester Cove’s gossip central, both Ellie and Noah certainly lead the reader on an emotionally wrenching journey towards their happily ever after made infinitely that much sweeter because of the fact.

Something to Talk About is definitely landing in my favorite reads of this year as M.J. Fredrick completely took me by surprise with the turn of each page, bringing forth emotions that I didn’t think I was even capable of feeling. Noah Weston with his killer dimples, his intensity that can fry the brain cells of any woman and his quiet strength is a hero worth savoring and worth allowing into your dreams, yes because he is the stuff that dreams are made out of. Ellie is a heroine who made me fall in love with her because she has those qualities that makes a reader root for the heroine right from the very beginning. Beautiful inside and out with a heart that yearns for a love like her friend Lily had found in Noah, Ellie is a heroine who is willing to fight for what she believes in, even with the whole world frowning down on her.

What endeared the story most to me is the way M.J. Fredrick managed to make Noah and Ellie’s love work without sullying up the beautiful relationship that Noah had with his wife Lily, without painting Lily as the good for nothing previous wife who deserved what she got in the end. Rather than doing that, Ms. Fredrick explores the possibility that yes, you can find love in the most unexpected of places and let it be a beautiful one, untainted by a past that is beautiful in its own right. All the secondary characters in the story from the reverend to Noah’s charming nieces to the navel-pierced psychic who manages to catch the eye of the reverend all wormed their way into my heart not to be easily forgotten.

With an epilogue that beautifully ties up everything and made me grin and inwardly smile at the same time, this is a contemporary romance that is definitely worth talking about, worth your time and money and comes highly recommended from the sunny side of life.

Favorite Quotes

He stepped inside and caught her fresh scent from the shower. He wanted to drop the toolbox and pin her to the wall behind the door, taste the dampness of her skin, the warmth of her mouth. He wanted to feel her hands on him, but he kept walking.

She made a small sound in the back of her throat as he slanted his mouth over hers, reining in his hunger to concentrate on the taste of her, the feel of her, the rhythm of her breath, of her heart. He wanted to absorb her, to savor her.

Every now and then he’d look her way and smile and she tumbled, just tumbled right over into love.

Reviewer’s Note: Though Ms. Fredrick didn’t request for a review, she did provide me with a copy of this wonderful romance for which I want to thank her and show her my appreciation. The fact that she gave me a copy had no effect whatsoever on my review or rating of the story. 

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Lyrical Press 

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Don’t Look Back by M.J. Fredrick

Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Hero: Captain Gerard Delaney
Heroine: Dr. Olivia Olney
Sensuality: 3.5
Publication Date: August 12, 2010
Started On: July 13, 2011
Finished On: July 14, 2011

Don’t Look Back by M.J. Fredrick is going to be a hard book for me to review, not because I didn’t love the story that unfolded but rather because of just how much the story drew me in and wrapped its words around me, making me savor every emotion that it wrenched from me that I want to do this book the justice that  it deserves. Before I begin my review however, there are two things that I would like to thank the very wonderful M.J. Fredrick for. Number one being for the blog post that she published which drew my attention to this gem, and the second for being generous enough to give me a copy of this book which I appreciate from the bottom of my heart.

Don’t Look Back kicks off seven years prior to the start of the actual story when Dr. Olivia Olney is rescued by a team led by Captain Gerard Delaney from Special Forces who specializes in hostage recovery. Broken, battered, raped and barely alive, Olivia finds the strength to persevere and come out fighting by never letting go of the image of the tough blue-eyed soldier who arrived to her rescue when she had right about given up hope.

Seven years later, Olivia is a changed woman, the scars of the ordeal that she underwent which she carries with her every day. However, that doesn’t stop her from helping out the less fortunate souls who struggle to survive the depths of hell that is war riddled Africa, even if it means going back to the one place that brings back the nightmares of how she was captured and tortured at the hands of violent and vicious men.

When her best friend Jill gets taken as a hostage by the man who imprisoned Olivia and introduced her to the depths of hell, there is no stone that Olivia would leave unturned in her quest to rescue the one woman who stood by her through every single step of her recovery. When Olivia finds out that the soldier who has haunted her dreams since the night of her rescue is very much alive and living in exile in Spain, she doesn’t hesitate to pull out all the stops, even kicking Delaney where it hurts to get him to lead their rescue operation.

Delaney is a man who has been stripped bare of everything, a man with nothing left to lose who remains in hiding, fearing for the life of his son and his ex-wife whom he has left behind. Three years of merely existing comes to an end when the sexy and vibrant Olivia sashays into his life, opening up the wounds that have been quietly festering all this while. Olivia forces Delaney to confront his fear of failure and his reluctance to go back to a country that has already taken too much from him and left him high and dry.

Making their way to Amadan, a jungle-choked country with very poor roads begins their journey towards endless violence and danger which seems to lurke amidst every step they take. But the biggest threat comes not from the danger to each of their lives but rather that to their hearts when desire races like a raging inferno through both of them until there is no choice left but to surrender.

Combining sizzling sexual tension, toe-curling passion, heart pounding adventure and vicious war lords whose agendas change as swiftly as that of the colors of a chameleon, M.J. Fredrick earns herself 5 solid stars for penning such a fantastic romantic suspense that ALL fans of the genre must read. Bringing together two souls who have already seen the worst life can offer, but still has the courage to stand tall, both Delaney and Olivia are heartwarming and endearing characters that I fell in love with right from the very beginning.

In my opinion, the fact that M.J. Fredrick portrays the story in gritty and realistic terms to the very last detail made this earn a spot from my favorite reads for this year. Raw and honest in the gut wrenching emotions that it brings forth, heartbreaking in the details of the rape and torture that is part of every day life for women in the region, Don’t Look Back is a novel that has got it all. If a well-balanced romantic suspense with a bit of dark edge to it is what you want, don’t hesitate to pick this one up and let yourself be taken away on an intense adventure that would have you biting your nails before halfway through!

Favorite Quotes

To compensate, she took a deep breath and found herself with a noseful of Del-scent. Something about the sharp smell of him, lying beneath what might be Old Spice, made her want to bury her face in his throat and breathe him in.

Words escaped him. All his energy was in controlling his desire. He had no business looking at her, no business wanting to run his fingers through her hair, to bring her body against his and warm her with his kisses. He was the last thing she needed in her life.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Road Signs by M. J. Fredrick

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Cameron Trask
Heroine: Willow Hawkins
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 14, 2011
Started On: March 10, 2011
Finished On: March 11, 2011

I found M. J. Fredrick’s latest book Road Signs which is to be released on the 14th of this month up for grabs at Netgalley to my ever loving delightful surprise. I was glad for a chance to receive an ARC because after my first encounter with M. J. Fredrick’s writing style when I read and reviewed her romantic suspense novel Breaking Daylight, she has landed on my list of authors to look out for. Road Signs being a book of my favorite friends-to-lovers trope was just the icing on the cake for me when I picked up this read.

27 year old Cameron Trask has being in love with his best friend Willow Hawkins since high school. Willow, an only child whose mother had worked two jobs to keep a roof over their heads, had basked in the warmth that had been offered up by Cameron’s family who had welcomed Willow with open arms. Willow’s beautiful mother’s tendency to stray towards the wrong kind of man for all the wrong reasons has left its emotional scars on Willow who shies away from commitment and works hard towards building a life for herself just so that she can stand on her own two feet and would never have to rely on a man for security.

But a moment of lapse in judgement has Willow regretting her impulsive decision to visit her latest boyfriend’s parents for Thanksgiving and before she knows it she calls up the one person whom she trusts more than anyone else in her life to come and get her. Cameron drops everything that he has lined up, adjusts his plans on travelling to Seattle for a job interview and drives down to collect the one woman who matters more to him in life than anyone else. Though Cameron has never had the guts to come outright and confess how he feels to Willow, it doesn’t make his plans of severing ties with her and moving away so that he can finally, hopefully get on with his life any easier.

When Willow finds out how she might have screwed up Cameron’s chance of getting a job that would finally mean something to him, Willow convinces Cameron to set out on a road trip that would take them to Cameron’s destination. From the moment they set out, one thing after another goes wrong, bringing out opportunities for Willow to see how her best friend whom she has seen very little of for the past couple of weeks has changed so much, looks more appealing and has her thinking wild thoughts of them entwined together doing the very thing that she has sworn she wouldn’t subject their friendship to.

Cameron knows that this road trip would be the last chance he would ever have of making a move and coming out with how he feels about Willow. For someone like Cameron who has the term cautious engraved onto his forehead, this is easier said than done. However, the close proximity that the trip places them together with feelings that they have both long kept under the rug sweep onto the surface gaining momentum until they both ultimately surrender to each other. Even then, Willow’s insecurities when it comes to love and commitment rises to the surface which she has to deal with before these two finally find their happily ever after.

I liked the premise of the story, a road trip embarked upon by best friends, both of whom who want what’s best for the other. Willow turned out to be a heroine I would have liked to hit on the head a couple of times because of her obstinate nature that kept her from what turns out to be the best thing in her life. Cameron is such a sweet hero, who won my heart simply because his love for Willow shines through each and every action of his from the way he rides to her rescue to the way he just simply wants her to be happy with life. Cameron makes for such an endearing hero with an abundant reserve of patience which he really has to call on when dealing with someone as skittish as Willow when it comes to love, commitment and happily ever afters.

Though at times there was a disjointed feel to the story, in the end it proved to be an enjoyable contemporary romance that takes the reader on a journey of discovery of how the feelings between Willow and Cameron finally meet on the same level giving them both a taste of a well deserved happily ever after. Recommended for fans of contemporary romances that would make for a light quick read with a hero you would immediately fall in love with, fans of M. J. Fredrick and for fans of romances of the friends-to-lovers trope.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Carina Press

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Breaking Daylight By M. J. Fredrick

Format: E-bookbreakingdaylight
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Hero: Alex Shepard
Heroine: Isabella Canales
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 5, 2010
Started On: February 11, 2011
Finished On: February 12, 2011

Breaking Daylight is a novel I picked up on a whim, because I always love myself a good romantic suspense that includes a trek through the wilderness of a jungle which creates an environment that throws the hero and heroine together, regardless of their distrust and animosity towards the other. This one has been sitting in my TBR pile since then and I finally decided to take the plunge and read my first M.J. Fredrick last night. Despite the one review I read on Amazon which didn’t encourage me overly much to read this, I loved the story that unfolded and would definitely look forward to more by Ms. Fredrick.

Master Sergeant Alex Shepard hates trekking through jungles with a passion. A member of a team of rangers, Alex is the adopted son of his parents from Texas and looks forward to the day that he can claim the innocent and pure Rebecca back home as his own. Alex had grown up with a drug addict mother who had whored her way through life and made her son sell drugs for her until it had all come to a halt the day she had been killed by cops in pursuit of her. Though Alex had adjusted well to family life and the warmth and love that his adoptive parents bestow on him, their lurks emotional scars of a deeper kind which makes him long for the whole white picket fence with a family of his own regardless of the fact that he feels unworthy of such goodness in his life.

24 year old Isabella Canales leaves home when she is 18 years old in pursuit of adventure and finds more than she bargained for when she trusts the rich and charming Santiago Saldana who in reality is the baddest of bad asses when it comes to drug kingpins. Isabella makes her way to Central America in order to pursue her studies in Spanish and Immersion and had payed her college fees by strip dancing until she had met Santiago who had practically imprisoned her and made her bend to his every will and whim for the past 6 years. Stunningly beautiful, Isabella finds the courage to escape when her son Hector is taken away from her by Santiago in order to further manipulate her for his use.

It is when one of the DEA agents who infiltrates the Santiago gang is unheard of for a couple of weeks that Alex and his team partner up with DEA agents to find out what has happened to him, surrounding Santiago’s property deep in the remote areas of the jungles. Though the very first sight of gorgeous Isabella pleasuring herself surrounded by bath bubbles gets to Alex in a way he refuses to admit, it is Alex that ends up protecting a woman he feels nothing but detest and anger towards, because she had lapped up each and every luxury at the hands of someone like Santiago which brings memories of his own childhood too close to the surface. Isabella knows that the silent soldier whose eyes flash loathing at her would never understand what drives her and the deep rooted terror inside of her that Santiago would get his hands on her before she can find out where he had sent her son off to.

Isabella is someone who has never had a man want her just for herself. And so when Alex turns to her in despair upon hearing that his Rebecca was going to marry someone else, Isabella is helpless to stop the tide of desire and red-blooded lust that takes a hold of both of them for an unforgettable night that brings her shields down and makes her hope and yearn for things better left unsaid.

With Isabella on her way back to the States, Alex thinks it to be the last time he would ever see her and instead finds himself tailing her once again to see whether she draws Santiago in for the DEA to swoop in and arrest the one man who has eluded their every attempt at arrest in the past couple of years. Longing, desire and feelings better left unnamed all attack Alex full force as he begins to learn who Isabella really is inside and out and as both of them give into the combustive passion between them, so rises the danger that surrounds them together with betrayal from a person Alex trusts more than anyone else in his life.

I loved a lot of things about my first novel by Ms. Fredrick. First of all its fabulous cover showing off Alex’s magnificent chest with the dog tags just makes me nearly swallow my tongue each and every time my gaze is riveted upon it – which seemed to happen pretty much often the whole of last night. The man himself once I got to know his character and of course the way he just practically vibrates with intense longing each and every time he and Isabella are together just made me fall for him – big time. I love myself a tortured hero as much as the next gal in the world of romanceldia and Alex fits the description to a tee which makes him the best kind of tortured alpha hero out there! And I definitely sighed over the way Alex can’t help but call Isabella Bella or Goddess depending on his mood. *sigh*

Isabella Canales is a rare type of heroine for a romance novel. She has made huge mistakes in her life, had danced at strip clubs to make ends meet, had been young, naive and shallow enough to fall for a man like Santiago for which she had paid with 6 years of her life which had certainly not been a life one could be proud about. In spite of all that and maybe because of that, Isabella is a strong woman who is not without her own insecurities when it comes to relationships and love but nevertheless doesn’t hide behind denial when she does fall for Alex, a man who is truly worthy of her love and affection. Her loyalty towards her son, the one guy who means the world to her and her relentless pursuit of him regardless of what she has to put herself through along the way earned her my admiration and approval because she is just the kind of strong woman that Alex needs by his side.

Although I loved so many things about this story, I couldn’t help but feel cheated at the ending because I was expecting a nice little epilogue where I could see my Alex all happy and free of the shadows that seem to be a part of him. Its just my opinion that an epilogue would have indeed made this story a 5 star read and made it one of the unforgettable kind.

Recommended for fans of romantic suspense.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Samhain | BooksOnBoard

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